Toledo finishes runners-up at the Great Alaska Shootout

The University of Toledo men’s basketball finished runners-up in the Great Alaska Shootout, losing 78-70 to Middle Tennessee in the Championship game on Saturday.

UT cruised to an 89-74 victory in the opening round against San Jose State. In the semi-finals Toledo defeated Loyola 82-74 just six days after losing to the Ramblers in Chicago 69-62.

All wasn’t lost for UT as senior center Nathan Boothe earned the Great Alaska Shootout’s Most Outstanding Player award. The 6-foot-9 center averaged 14 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists per game and committed just one turnover in 100 minutes of action over a three-game stretch.

Along with Boothe, junior Jonathan Williams and sophomore Stuckey Mosely were named to the all-tournament team.

Boothe registered the first triple-double in program history in Toledo’s opening game of the tournament. He tailed 12 points, a season-high 13 rebounds and a career-best 10 assist, in the 89-74 victory over San Jose State on Wednesday.

Williams started off the tournament with a career-high 26 points and stayed hot. Williams scored 20 points in each of the next two games to give him a 22 points per game average in the tournament.

Mosley has taken full control of his new starting point guard position. He averaged a little over 15 points per game and 7 rebounds in the three games.

The Rockets finished the tournament with an average of 48.6 percent, shooting from the field as a team.

In the championship game the Rocket’s offense — which cracked over 80 points in the first two games — found themselves in defensive battle.

Williams and Boothe were the only two Rockets to crack double figures in the scoring department with 20 and 19 respectfully.

The Blue Raiders forced Toledo into shooting their tourney low — 46.4 percent from the field, including just 39.4 percent in the second half.

Middle Tennessee on the other hand had no problems shooting it, knocking down 10-of-23 shots from three-point land and finishing the game shooting 52.8 percent from the field.

The Rockets led for much of the opening stanza after scoring the game’s first five points. UT’s largest lead was 23-14 following a Mosley trey just under seven minutes before halftime. MTU responded with a 10-2 burst to cut the Rockets’ lead to only one point. Boothe answered with a pair of buckets.

The Blue Raiders would tie things up at the half with a desperate three points from the top of the key, scored right before the buzzer and knotting things up at 32 apiece.

Out of the break, Middle Tennessee started the half with an 8-0 run which ended up being the difference in the end.

The Rockets clawed back to within a point, 52-51, on Mosley’s lay-in with just over 10 minutes to play. That was short-lived for UT though, as the Blue Raiders scored 10 unanswered points for an 11-point cushion with 7:07 left.

Toledo would cut the lead to six points but failed to get any closer.

The Rockets return to action Wednesday, Dec. 2, with a home matchup versus Cleveland State. Tip-off time in Savage Arena is set for 7:00 p.m.